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> The old system is useful for very common things like cooking, because it's a Duodecimal system and you can more easily do fractions in your head. I get it it'

> The old system is useful for very common things like cooking, because it's a Duodecimal system and you can more easily do fractions in your head. I get it it's funny "the Americans don't like science", but it's actually pretty far from the truth. It's really not. Most of the time, I just convert to grams and use a scale so I can get an actually accurate input quantity. I don't want to think about "heaping" and "leveled" and "packed" and different densities, humidity or uneven distribution within a measuring implement. If I'm going to be putting it on a scale I'm definitely not setting it to ounces.

remarkEon 3y ago
I think the difference it that I don't have to use a scale. I'm not in a chemistry lab, I'm in my kitchen. Though, I suppose, those are one in the same aren't they.
- arcticbull 3y ago
  Unless you're baking, in which case a scale really makes a world of difference! When was the last time you really looked and said, geez, thank the lord I can divide 1lb 14oz into eights really easily in my head?
  - remarkEon 3y ago
    I'm very very particular about measuring out the exact amount a recipe calls for and putting it all in little dishes before we actually start cooking. But I don't actually have a scale, maybe I'll get one and try it. My wife will probably stop me, because once I get into the details on a particular topic I tend to go overboard. On the math thing, probably during Christmas when we were trying to stretch a baked French Toast recipe to feed 9 people in stead of 6. Worked great.
    - arcticbull 3y ago
      Haha, honestly I don't have much of a real opinion on this topic. I do suggest the scale, though. I find I get much more consistent results. Even if it's set to ounces ;) The error bars on "one cup of flour" IME are enormous.
      - remarkEon 3y ago
        This is making me realize that the error bars really live in the kitchen of the recipe maker. My french toast is ruined! I measured the exact amount you said! Not realizing that the original cook was using the Larry David measurement system. "Ehhh that's close enough".
        arcticbull 3y ago
        Honestly, I hadn't though about that, heh. I'm sure you're right.
spookie 3y ago
In a tangential but related topic, you can improve floating point arithmetic precision by varying bases :)

remarkEon 3y ago

I think the difference it that I don't have to use a scale. I'm not in a chemistry lab, I'm in my kitchen. Though, I suppose, those are one in the same aren't they.

arcticbull 3y ago
Unless you're baking, in which case a scale really makes a world of difference! When was the last time you really looked and said, geez, thank the lord I can divide 1lb 14oz into eights really easily in my head?
- remarkEon 3y ago
  I'm very very particular about measuring out the exact amount a recipe calls for and putting it all in little dishes before we actually start cooking. But I don't actually have a scale, maybe I'll get one and try it. My wife will probably stop me, because once I get into the details on a particular topic I tend to go overboard. On the math thing, probably during Christmas when we were trying to stretch a baked French Toast recipe to feed 9 people in stead of 6. Worked great.
  - arcticbull 3y ago
    Haha, honestly I don't have much of a real opinion on this topic. I do suggest the scale, though. I find I get much more consistent results. Even if it's set to ounces ;) The error bars on "one cup of flour" IME are enormous.
    - remarkEon 3y ago
      This is making me realize that the error bars really live in the kitchen of the recipe maker. My french toast is ruined! I measured the exact amount you said! Not realizing that the original cook was using the Larry David measurement system. "Ehhh that's close enough".
      - arcticbull 3y ago
        Honestly, I hadn't though about that, heh. I'm sure you're right.

spookie 3y ago

In a tangential but related topic, you can improve floating point arithmetic precision by varying bases :)